The 2024 European Athletics Championships, EAA’s flagship event, has been awarded to Rome.

Following the announcement, European Athletics Interim President Dobromir Karamarinov said: “We are very pleased to announce that Rome will be hosting the 2024 European Athletics Championships. Italy has already demonstrated they are capable of staging excellent athletics championships across all age-groups and I am sure that athletes and fans alike will look forward to travelling to Rome in 2024.”

This will be the third time Italy has staged the now-biennial European Athletics Championships after Turin held the inaugural edition in 1934 followed by Rome in 1974 when Pietro Mennea famously won the 200m title for the host nation.

This will also be the first major athletics competition to be held in the Italian capital since the 1987 World Athletics Championships which was highlighted by Bulgaria’s Stefka Kostadinova setting the still-standing world high jump record of 2.09m.

T&FT staff were involved in organising a large group to the 1987 event as well as making arrangements as T&FT for the 1993 Europa Cup event where T&FT hosted a GBR Supporters event party at which all the GB team and officials attended – David Grindley, Curtis Robb and Steve Smith among them.

The 2024 European Athletics Championships will take place in the famous Stadio Olimpico which staged both the 1974 European Champs and 1987 World Athletics Champs as well as the 1960 Olympic Games.

Renovated in 1990, the Stadio Olimpico, which also stages the annual Wanda Rome Diamond League meeting, holds up to 70,000 spectators.